Stockbridge Bowl

Stockbridge Bowl is a 372-acre (1.51 km2) artificially impounded body of water that is 4 km (2.5 mi) north of the village of Stockbridge, Massachusetts. A variant name is Lake Mahkeenac.[1]

The lake is 1 ¾ miles long, about ¾ miles wide, and its shoreline totals six miles (10 km), two miles (3 km) of which are owned by the Town of Stockbridge. Stockbridge Bowl is drained by Larrywaug Brook, which is tributary to the Housatonic River.[2]

The shoreline is also the site of more than 450 private cottages. One property on the lake is connected with Seranak Cottage, a 34-room house owned by the Boston Symphony Orchestra. This was formerly a summer home of Serge Koussevitzky, a director of the Boston Symphony, and founder of the nearby Tanglewood Music Center. The name Ser-a-na-k stands for Serge and Natasha, who was Koussevitzky’s first wife.

The lake suffers from eutrophication due to excess nutrients blamed on runoff from development and septic systems in the immediate area.[3]

The 340-foot (100 m)-long earthen Stockbridge Bowl Dam was completed in 1880. It is owned by the Town Of Stockbridge. [4][5] A 2008 inspection found the dam in "satisfactory" condition.[6]

References

  1. ^ U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Stockbridge Bowl
  2. ^ Housatonic River Stockbridge Stream Team, Shoreline Survey Report and Action Plan, Housatonic Valley Association and Massachusetts Riverways Adopt-a-Stream Program. May 2002. Page 6.
  3. ^ Interesting Facts about Stockbridge Bowl, Stockbridge Bowl Association website, accessed July 15, 2010
  4. ^ [1]
  5. ^ National Program for Inspection of Non-Federal Dams. Stockbridge Bowl Dam (MA 00022), Housatonic River Basin, Stockbridge, Massachusetts. Phase I Inspection Report, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Waltham, Massachusetts, April 1981.
  6. ^ Inventory of dams in Massachusetts, scribd.com website, accessed July 15, 2010. Original source and date undetermined.